Captive breeding and release of brown teal Anas chlorotis into the Moehau Kiwi Sanctuary, Coromandel, New Zealand

Published source details O'Connor S. (2005) Captive breeding and release of brown teal Anas chlorotis into the Moehau Kiwi Sanctuary, Coromandel, New Zealand. Conservation Evidence, 2, 72-73.
Share Tweet Email

This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Release captive-bred individuals into the wild to restore or augment wild populations of wildfowl Action Link
	Control predators not on islands for wildfowl Action Link

Release captive-bred individuals into the wild to restore or augment wild populations of wildfowl

A replicated study at a reintroduction programme in the north of North Island, New Zealand (O'Connor 2005) found that 60 captive-bred brown teal Anas chlorotis released in 2003 had an annual survival rate of just 45%, but the survival rate of 40 individuals released in 2004 was 85%. This difference was probably due to a more intensive control of feral cats Felis catus (a major cause of mortality in 2003) between releases (see ‘Control predators not on islands’). The site also had on-going control of stoats Mustela erminea and ferrets M. putorius. The authors suggest that higher survival may also have been due to the presence of an established teal population in 2004 but not 2003. Teal were not kept in aviaries at the site before release, but were provided with supplementary food (see ‘Provide supplementary food after release’ and ‘Use holding pens at release sites’ for details on these techniques).
Control predators not on islands for wildfowl

A before-and-after study of a reintroduction programme in the north of North Island, New Zealand (O'Connor 2005) found far higher survival rates of captive-bred brown teal Anas chlorotis in 2004 than in 2003, following a more extensive feral cat Felis catus control programme in between releases. This study is discussed in more detail in ‘Release captive-bred individuals’.